Method of and apparatus for operating oil wells



R. CONRADER. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR OPERATING'OIL WELLS.

7 APPLICATION FILED JULYZO, 1920. 1,431,??? Patented Oct. 10, 19225.

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} RUDOLPH CONRADER, F ERIE, PENNSYIVANIA.

Application filed m 20,

7 To all whom it may concern:

citizen of the United States, residin Be it known that I, RUDOLPH Connnnnma at Erie,

in the county ofErie and State of ennsylvania, hate invented new and useful Improvements in the Method 'of and Apparatus or Operating Oil Wells, of which the 01- lowing is a specification.

In the operation of oil ells if the as pressure is entirely relieved on the wel it will result in-a momentar increased. r0 duction but in the continue operation 0 the well the total production will be decreased. To get the maximum production the pressure'should be maintained in the well and this pressure should bemaintaine'd practi- 4 the tubing,

' cally constant.

new be understood that most 'wellsroducing gas in any quantity are connects up with some gas system so that there is a varying back pressure at the discharge. The present invention is designed to hold the well under constant pressure which maybe determined u on as accomplishing its maximum productlon and in the carrying out this invention this constant pressure is main tained regardless ofthe discharge pressure.

In; the accompanying drawings I have shown an apparatus coming within the in- 30 vention and exemplifying the method as follows Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a controlling .valve.

Fig. 2 a section'of an oil well with a controlling valve 'in place thereon. 1

Fig. 3 an enlarged section of the con- I trolling valve.

Fig. a an-end view of the valveas'shown in Fig.- 3.

' Fig. 5 a section of an alternative construction of valve adapted for controlling wells under a vacuum. l

Fig. 6 an end view of the same valve.

1' marks the well which extends through the various earth formations to the oil sand, 2 the casing of the well, 3 the casing head, .5 the pump barrel, 6 'the I to the barrel, 7 the usual sand, 8 the pump plunger,- 9 the sucker rod, 10 the walking beam or jack operating upon the sucker rod, 11 the strainer lead n opening into the casing head. These parts areor may be of any desired construction following the usual'practice. The controlling'valve has a body 14 which is connected sure the valve will open against the 3. A diaphragm is provided which is 1920. Serial no. senses.

with the discharge 12 b a nipple 13. The bod connects to the discharge pipe 15 which lea s to the hue and is subjected to the varylng pressures of the line.

and a valve 17 operates on this seat by a movement toward and from the seat. A stem 18 extends from the phragm 19 which is sealed with relation to the body and exposed on its outer surface to theatmosphere. A spring 21 is arranged aga nst the end of the stem 18- and an adustmg nut 22 is provided in the outer end of the cap by means of which the spring 21 may be adjusted to vary the press re at which the well is maintained.

With the spring properly set, the face of the valve 17 being exposed to the well presspring 21 when the pressure'has reached the point to which the spring is adjusted and the well Wlll discharge until its pressure has been brought to the pre-determined pressure and Wlll be held at this pressure by the opening and clos ng of the valve through the 0 pos- 1ng forces of the gases in the well an the sprmg. Where the well discharges to a line with a varying discharge pressure this disturbs the action of the device because this pressure w ll be exerted against the back ace of the valve and will be added to the spring- To compensate for this the diaphragm 19 is sure on the back less of discharge pressure there is a balanced relation of the valve. If the tension ing up of the springis too abrupt to accomplish the desired result the size of the 'dia-= A, valve seat 16 is arranged in the'body 14 valve 17 to a diaprovided which is subjected to the discharge pressure and the pressureeo j on the diaphragm compensatesfor the presof the valve so that regardphragm may be slightly varied to com ensate for this. With wells which it isdeslred to maintain at a pressure below atmosphere a partial vacuum is maintained on the discharge line. A valve for .controllin the well pressure is shown, in Figs. 5 and 6. ere

the valve structure is the same as in Fig. su

jected to the reduced pressure and thus bal ances the "valve. In this case the outside of the diaphragmis subjected to atmospheric pressure and the face of the valve exposed to well pressure is normally under atmospheric pressure. A spring 23 is'secured to projection 25 on an adjusting screw26. A

a projection 24 on the valve stem and a Y nut 27 is provided for adjusting the screw 26, thus varying the tension of the spring. This adjustment may be set by a lock nut 28. As soon as the pressure in the well rises above what is desired there will be a preponderance .of pressure in the well over atmospheric pressure which preponderance I which consists in maintaining a constant pie-determined pressure on the well 2. The method of operating 011 wells which consists in maintaining a constant pre-determined pressure above atmosphere to discharge pressure and the'actlon of the and valve for compensating for varion the well.

3. The method of operating oil wells hav-- ing a discharge into a medium having a varying pressure which consists in main taining' a constant pie-determined pressure on the well.

posing the pressure in 4. The combination with an oil well casing of devices actuated by pressure in the well for maintaining a constant pre-determined pressure .on the well.

5. The combination with an oii well casing of devices actuated by pressure in the well for maintaining a constant pre-determined pressure on the well and means for compensating for variations of discharge pressure.

6. The combination with an oil well casing of a valve controlling the discharge from the casing having its face exposed to well pressure; a counter-pressure device opthe well; and a compensatmg pressure device exposed to the discharge pressure and compensating for the action of discharge pressures upon the valve.

7. The combination with an oil well casing of a valve controlling the discharge from the casing and having its face exposed to well pressure; a spring opposing the open ing of the valve; and a diaphragm exposed spring ations in pressure 111 the discharge.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset my hand. v

RUDOLPH COERADER. 

